Research Fields

Animals, including man, rely completely on plants, be it as a food, clothing or medicine source. The broad and ancient science of Botany (since the 8th Century BCE) deals with the study of plants. The word botany comes from the Greek botane, meaning “plant”, which comes from the verb boskien, “to feed”. The specialization of the modern world led this science to have many subordinated fields. Nowadays the study of plants is providing us with important knowledge on the essence of life, and will still provide this knowledge in the future, since with the advance of the new technologies, we can presume that we are only at the beginning of the most exciting period in the history of botany. The Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden makes investigations on many fields of botany.

Applied Social Sciences

Research Line: Natural, cultural and environmental patrimony: the musealization and patrimonialization processes

Goal: To identify and analyze the musealization and patrimonialization processes of the natural, cultural and environmental goods on the institutionalized or legitimated networks by means of their manifestations as botanical gardens, museums, reserves and parks among others. It deals with the museological process of conservation, documentation, research and communication, focusing on their informational characteristics. It is aimed at the understanding of the relationship between society, culture, museum and patrimony, and its specific senses established in the Brazilian political and social context and in the strengthening of subjects regarding the environment.

Ecology

Ecology is the study of the interactions of the organism between each other and with the physical environment. It is one of the most common yet mysterious and unpredictable aspects of the world around us. The ecological science encompasses a wide array of approaches, and the investigations in this field are essential to understand the relations between the organisms and the environment. By means of the study of the biological diversity in different scales, with the biotic and abiotic aspects taken into consideration, the organization of the organisms and the factors that determine biodiversity, it is possible to create plans of action in response to the changes that occur in the world. The Botanical Garden takes part in many ecological investigations on many Brazilian biomes, especially in the Atlantic Forest.

Ethnobotany

Ethnobotany studies the interactions between living beings and the plant resources. It seeks to understand past and present societies and its ecological, genetic, evolutionary, symbolic and cultural relationship with plant resources. It is based on conservation, sustainable use of the biodiversity and fair en equitable division of the benefits created by the use of resources. The goals of the ethnobotany are to research, identify and register the ethnobotanical knowledge of many human groups to conserve the cultural and biological diversity for future generations. At the Botanical Garden, we support community actions to conserve the resources of the flora.

History

Conteúdo vem aqui.During the last few decades, the Botanical Gardens are becoming a place of interest for researchers of many fields of knowledge. Its privileged place on the production and dissemination of knowledge translates, nowadays, as a central feature in the analyses on the circulation of knowledge, objects, men and women, information and theories that are part of processes on which more and more the scientific practices are understood as cultural practices.

The role of the botanical gardens and, in particular, of the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden, can be analyzed through the studies on the importance of botany in the projects involved in major national changes, and also on the proposals for public policies regarding the protection of nature in its interaction with other spaces for the history of educational and its pedagogic dimension, the studies of scientific patterns, scientific institutions and actors, in different times. Thus, the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden is in tune with the current tendencies in the field of history, according to which, the scientific practices are understood in its social context. Ii seeks the necessary dialog with other fields of knowledge, some under construction and others well established, such as the environment studies, sociology, education, international relations, among others. The Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden is a space to be research because of a process involving groups and individuals in their distinct cultural activities in relation to one another.

Lines of Research in History at the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden:

1- History of the practical field collections and the representations in botanical gardens and museums in Brazil and Latin America.

2- History of the herbariums of botanical gardens and their collections and classifications as historical sources.

3- History of the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden and its participation in historical processes of cooperation, disputes for scientific, social and political hegemonies.

4- History of the Ro de Janeiro Botanical Garden in the context of the city and its changing landscape.

5- The Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden and the Big Exhibitions of the 19th and 20th centuries, in the national and international contexts.

6- The Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden between scientific specialization, knowledge dissemination and political practices in Brazil.

7- Biographies and life stores of actors that were part of the history of the Botanical Garden: directors, scientists, gardeners and travelller naturalists.

8- A The institutionalization of the natural sciences in Brazil during the 19th Century and the role of the Rio de Janeiro Botanical Garden in the exchanges with other institutions from Brazil and Latin America.